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I'll just repost my post on Facebook of 40 minutes ago:
I'ts MY favorite of the Herrmann rerecordings. Always wondered why this and the subsequent OST release left out the music for the McKitttrick hotel scene. Criminal, as it's some of the best in the movie.
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Anyone remember how that soundtrack was one of the rarest, highest priced, records, on ye olde record Mercury label? So many copies and versions. Regular joes who know the film love the music. Bernard Herrmann wrote an authentic American classic.
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Anyone remember how that soundtrack was one of the rarest, highest priced, records, on ye olde record Mercury label? So many copies and versions. Regular joes who know the film love the music. Bernard Herrmann wrote an authentic American classic.
Yes. The Mercury recording was the mother of all Holy Grails (back when such a term had a meaning). It was the stuff of Legend.
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Posted: |
Oct 11, 2011 - 10:27 PM
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By: |
Dana Wilcox
(Member)
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The Conlon recording (conducted to the actual film as it was recorded) is spectacular in every way, except how it was presented to the world (ensconced in a sleeve in a book of photos from an art film about the recording of the score, and in one track). There is no question that this deserves a proper and traditional release! I'm of a mixed mind about the all-in-one-track vs. 42 or 43 mostly short little tracks -- Conlon must have viewed the score as an organic whole, and there is something to be said for that and the one-track presentation. The fanboy part of me wants an FSM-style presentation with individual cues and a fat liner notes booklet filling me in on every cue. Regardless of that, the Conlon re-recording is masterful, in perfect concert with the original score recording with respect to tempo and orchestration, fantastic sounding and conducted with great passion that flows from the speakers. The playing is flawless and the sound ambience is perfect, with every instrumental performance audible and clear as a bell. This for me is the "how to" example for re-recordings, i.e., a painstaking and precise homage to the original score recording as the composer fashioned it, miked so as to capture only a natural ambient reverb and retain the identity of the instrumental performances. ("Concert hall ambience" is a bummer!)
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Posted: |
Oct 11, 2011 - 11:35 PM
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By: |
Erik Woods
(Member)
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Hmmm. Okay, well then, to each his own. In the McNeely recording of SUNSET, (for example) you can barely hear the pounding piano in the opening sequence which is front and center in the actual film score! It may be a wonderful listen "in its own right"
Which it is...
but as a representation of what Waxman wrote for the film (and won an Oscar for) it's a catastrophe! The drama of the opening scene is completely lost amidst the mush of an echoey concert hall recording venue, and the rest fares little better. IMO of course.
I understand where you are coming from but if we were looking for completely faithful representations from our re-recordings then we might as well throw out a 99% of them because no matter how much time is spent reconstructing, micing, rehearsing, mixing, etc it's still never really going to sound the same as the original soundtrack recordings. However, there are rare occasions that the re-recording actually out performs the original recording/performance but let's save that for another time.
I really don't mind a more concert hall sound... however there are a bunch of the Jonathan Allan recorded Varese albums that do sound atrocious! Herrmann's Torn Curtian comes to mind. Or is it Marnie?
The later-released OST is what I listen to when I'm in the mood to hear SUNSET BOULVARD...
I really enjoy that release as well but I feel that the score really performs much better in it's complete form and so it's the McNeely album that I find I return to more often. That being said, what Countpoint put together was nothing short of miraculous and the sound quality of that older recording is surprisingly good!
-Erik-
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Because of some bad experiences with the Varese re-recordings, I never purchased the McNeely version so I can't comment. My remarks refer only to the Conlon and are not intended as a comparison to anything else. If what you say is true, then McNeely's VERTIGO is an exception to the general quality of those Varese re-recordings.
Have a listen.
http://www.cinematicsound.net/?p=1392
I was so excited when the Varese recording of SUNSET BOULEVARD was announced (there being no OST release at the time), and so disappointed when I finally heard it!
I think McNeely's Sunset is splendid! Having both the original soundtrack recording (released on Counterpoint) and the complete score re-recorded by Varese is simply wonderful and they compliment each other nicely.
-Erik-
Hmmm. Okay, well then, to each his own. In the McNeely recording of SUNSET, (for example) you can barely hear the pounding piano in the opening sequence which is front and center in the actual film score! It may be a wonderful listen "in its own right" but as a representation of what Waxman wrote for the film (and won an Oscar for) it's a catastrophe! The drama of the opening scene is completely lost amidst the mush of an echoey concert hall recording venue, and the rest fares little better. IMO of course. The later-released OST is what I listen to when I'm in the mood to hear SUNSET BOULVARD...
I agree with this completely. The mix on Sunset Blvd. just isn't good. One listen to the Charles Gerhardt bits will give you a much more accurate feel for how the score should sound - the piano part is very prevalent in the original and to have it buried in the mix would not have made Mr. Waxman happy.
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For me, if I had to choose between the re-recordings Conlon would win hands down - the sound is much better for me personally, and the playing is fantastic and the tempos are correct.
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The McNeely version is absolutely but the Conlon version is my favourite.
If they do re-issue it, I hope they will put some index marks on it. The current CD is, as you know, just one long track.
Cheers
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I really like the McNeely recording. While it features that "concert hall ambiance" that Varese recordings are often criticized for, in this case I feel it adds a bit to the "dreaminess" of the score.
That said, I prefer the Conlon recording because I find it sounds the most "Herrmannesque," even more so than Matheson's original film tracks. The presence of the recording and the performance trump all previous recordings of this score for me. I took the single track and broke it down into its components for my iPod rip.
This is, however, one of my favorite film scores, so the idea of having multiple interpretations of it is welcomed by myself.
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